250k budget. Is point breeze still that bad? (Philadelphia, Washington: rent, condo)

[schmedes2]

My wife and I are currently renting in grad hospital and really want to stay in the area. I work in the area and walk to work and she's a quick bike ride to arch st for her. We quickly realized that anything that doesn't need work in the area is going to be out of our price range.

The obvious response is go further south but I know point breeze is not all that great especially when it comes down to her safety. Does anyone have other suggestions? I have to be at work at 5am so septa has to be an option.

Thanks

[MikeNigh]

Are you guys looking to move into a bigger place? I always thought the total monthly payments on a place in an area were comparable to the rent in the area.

Hard to give suggestions without knowing where you both work, size of house desired, etc.

[ThomasDarcy]

Parts of Point Breeze are nice -- just make sure you do your research on any particular block you are looking at. Go and walk around some evenings to see how you feel in different parts of the area. Buying in Point Breeze will be a great investment, and I suspect that in 5 years the whole neighborhood will be as nice as Graduate Hospital was 5 years ago.

For now though, its probably important to pick a good block.

[2e1m5a]

If you have a budget of 250K and are open to all of South Philly you are certainly not limited to just Point Breeze-but if anticipated ROI is most important to you it may be a good fit.

[schmedes2]

We're not overly concerned with square footage but we would really prefer a 2 bed house over a 1 bed condo for instance though I wouldn't rule that out.

We strongly prefer to stay close to the area because I walk to work at 20 and south and she bikes to 20 and arch. Again since I have to be there at 5am I want to be close or have quick access to it.

We looked at a lot of places around our budget north of Washington but they all needed a pretty significant amount of work which we really can't do now.

Roi would be nice but we really just want more space, be close to work and not pay rent anymore

[sj08054]

Originally Posted by schmedes2

We're not overly concerned with square footage but we would really prefer a 2 bed house over a 1 bed condo for instance though I wouldn't rule that out.

We strongly prefer to stay close to the area because I walk to work at 20 and south and she bikes to 20 and arch. Again since I have to be there at 5am I want to be close or have quick access to it.

We looked at a lot of places around our budget north of Washington but they all needed a pretty significant amount of work which we really can't do now.

Roi would be nice but we really just want more space, be close to work and not pay rent anymore

Do you mind trinity style row home? Check out

403 S 17th St, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19146

[drive carephilly]

You should be able to find what you're looking for in Newbold - just west of Broad - which will give you easy access to the subway and still keep you close to stuff.

For some reason people who rent in Grad Hospital like to buy on Ellsworth/Federal/Wharton between 17th and 20th. I couldn't think of a more inconvenient place to live. At least if you live along 15th/16th/17th between Dickinson and Jackson you're close to the subway, to Passyunk Ave., to places like SPTR, Hardena, Circles, etc and you're all of two blocks further away from CC.

[bridge12]

Originally Posted by drive carephilly

You should be able to find what you're looking for in Newbold - just west of Broad - which will give you easy access to the subway and still keep you close to stuff.

For some reason people who rent in Grad Hospital like to buy on Ellsworth/Federal/Wharton between 17th and 20th. I couldn't think of a more inconvenient place to live. At least if you live along 15th/16th/17th between Dickinson and Jackson you're close to the subway, to Passyunk Ave., to places like SPTR, Hardena, Circles, etc and you're all of two blocks further away from CC.

Proximity to bus lines, the ability to walk or bike straight up in the Central Business District might have a lot do with it.

For example, If I work at 19th and Market, I'd rather live at 19th and Ellsworth and take the 17 bus or bike, rather than live near Broad and take the subway, then transfer to the trolley.

[drive carephilly]

Originally Posted by bridge12

Proximity to bus lines, the ability to walk or bike straight up in the Central Business District might have a lot do with it.

For example, If I work at 19th and Market, I'd rather live at 19th and Ellsworth and take the 17 bus or bike, rather than live near Broad and take the subway, then transfer to the trolley.

I see your point. You have an attachment to a particular part of the city, you can't afford to buy something there so you "walk 'til you qualify". Fair enough. But how much time, in this case, is that really saving you? 90 seconds on a bike? 4 minutes on foot? And that's assuming that you only to go to Rittenhouse.

Having lived in that general vicinity for 12 years that area would be the bottom of my list - not because I think it's a no-go zone - but because it's still a wasteland. Point Breeze Ave is still 8-10 years off of having anything going on. There's no grocery store to walk to and not even any convenient, corner produce places. There's the Sardine Bar and OCF coffee and for everything else you cross Washington or Broad . . . and it's not like Grad Hosp is a really happening 'hood either so really it's more like you cross Broad or you go up to South St before you find civilization and people out doing things.